Wing Lift and Rotate Rig
Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2018 9:16 pm
Just completed rigging a device to Lift and Rotate my Yukon wing (15'). I am building in my basement with a walkout door but my assembly table is under 2 beams that are too low to allow the rolling the wing on the table. I do have room ( barely) to rotate wing off the side of table and then bring it back over.
The photos show rig made from 2 Harbor Freight 1000 lb Engine Stands with the legs installed on back side (without casters) and it clamped to a Hydraulic Lift Cart. Wedged back leg to get pivot horizontal. I also modified the Hydraulic Lift carts to have an adjustable stop for down travel to avoid leak back and to have more control in lowering the wing. The adjustable stop is basically a 1/2" thick x 1" bar held by an 1/2"-13 all-thread jack screw against the rollers in the scissors lift track. I also used counterweights on the lift tables to avoid tip over even though the carts weigh 100 lb each and the Engine stands are C clamped to the table. Checked for horizontal Center of Gravity location and guessed Vertical location before mounting Engine Stand Pivot. Came out well, wing would stay in any location without holding it through out the rotation.
The nice thing, is both the Engine Stands and Lift Tables can be used as normal afterward. Hopefully, the same rig can be used for fuselage rotation.
Let me know if anyone has questions or needs more photos.
The photos show rig made from 2 Harbor Freight 1000 lb Engine Stands with the legs installed on back side (without casters) and it clamped to a Hydraulic Lift Cart. Wedged back leg to get pivot horizontal. I also modified the Hydraulic Lift carts to have an adjustable stop for down travel to avoid leak back and to have more control in lowering the wing. The adjustable stop is basically a 1/2" thick x 1" bar held by an 1/2"-13 all-thread jack screw against the rollers in the scissors lift track. I also used counterweights on the lift tables to avoid tip over even though the carts weigh 100 lb each and the Engine stands are C clamped to the table. Checked for horizontal Center of Gravity location and guessed Vertical location before mounting Engine Stand Pivot. Came out well, wing would stay in any location without holding it through out the rotation.
The nice thing, is both the Engine Stands and Lift Tables can be used as normal afterward. Hopefully, the same rig can be used for fuselage rotation.
- Lifting Wing off table
- Rotated 90 deg off table
- Raised and Rotated enough to move back over table
- Lowering Wing
- Adjustable Stop bar and Jack Screw